


"Bolt" Year One

by RavensFlight



Series: Bolt [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Blind Harry Potter, Emotionless Harry, Female Harry, Gen, Girl-Who-Lived (Harry Potter), Wrong Boy-Who-Lived (Harry Potter), basically out of tags, mostly at least, she may get a little irritated, well blindish
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-27
Updated: 2019-03-06
Packaged: 2019-11-06 12:03:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 8,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17939327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RavensFlight/pseuds/RavensFlight
Summary: Harriet Potters older brother, Liam Potter, is the light of the Wizarding world. The Boy-Who-Lived. Harriet Potter is the useless younger sister, sent away for “safety reasons”. And she's entirely content with that, happy to stay in the shadows, watching the game. Except, of course, when it gets in the way of her interests.





	1. Chapter one

**Author's Note:**

> A/N So the Timeline may be a little (read as “A lot”) confusing, because I shoved all events forward a year. Most of the students ages and years are all the same, except the events of the Philosopher's Stone have already happened before the start of this fic. This is because Harry's brother is a year older than her.
> 
> Tags are impossible to use on mobile, so I'll do that later. Tell me if you notice anything that suggests Lily is still alive.

Harry was busy making breakfast for her Aunt, Uncle, and cousin, when there was a knock at the door.

“Who's knocking at the door at this ungodly hour of the morning?” grumbled Uncle Vernon under his breath “Girl! Go see who it is!”

“Yes Uncle.” Harry replied quietly, serving her relatives efficiently before going to answer the door.

At the door, there was a tall, purple, yellow-red, and green figure.

‘ _Witch or wizard. Purple; hooved animagus. Yellow and red; usually energetic and happy. Green; anxious or worried.’_

Harry committed it to memory.

“Hello? Are you here to talk to Uncle Vernon?”

“Ah, well, Erm kind of, but, ah, oh dear.” The wizard sounded flustered. His green got bigger.

“I'm making a mess of this. I'm James Potter, your father. May I come in?”

_‘James Potter, father of Harry and Liam Potter, husband of Lily Potter, stag animagus, unemployed, member of The Order of the Phoenix.’_

“I'll need to ask Uncle Vernon. Excuse me for a moment.”

“Oh, of course.” Harry closed the door on James and went to speak with Vernon.

“James Potter is at the door, Uncle. He would like to come in.” Harry could clearly see Vernons orange and purple growing.

‘ _Scared. Angry.’_

“Don't let that freak into our house! We don't want anything to do with their kind! Tell him to leave!” Vernons voice sounded purple, but he was mostly orange.

“Yes Uncle.”

Harry went and reopened the door, speaking softly.

“I'm sorry, Uncle Vernon doesn't wish to speak with you.” for a moment, the man flashed white.

“W-what? He needs to! You're starting Hogwarts soon! You need to come with us to get ready!”

_‘Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, teaches ages 11 to 17.’_

Harry started to close the door again.

“I will relay that to him.” she went back to Vernon.

“He is insistent. We would like me to go with him to prepare for Hogwarts.” this time, Vernon went white. Then all of a sudden, there was an overwhelming flash of purple and orange.

“Fine! Go! Get out of here now! Don't you dare ever come back!” His roar shook the house.

“Yes Uncle.”

Harry left.

“I'm ready to go now.”

 

* * *

 

At Potter Manor, James sat Harry down to explain everything.

“Harriet, I'm sorry that we only got to talk now, but it was necessary. Liam was a target, and we didn't want you getting hurt. You turned 11 A short while ago, which means you'll be old enough to start attending Hogwarts, which is safer than anywhere else. Your older brother Liam started last year, so he'll be able to help you out this year. You and I are going shopping today, then you'll stay here with me, your mother, and Liam until the school year starts. Sounds Ok?” Everything was said almost faster than she could understand. He flashed black when he mentioned not wanting her to get hurt. 

_‘Assumption made: I can remember 7 years ago. Assumption is ill-considered. Assumption is correct.’_

 

“That's sounds really good!” Harry made an effort to smile. She remembered smiling. People like smiling. She watched him pale. The green left and he let out a relieved sigh.

“That's good. I was really worried that you would be upset that we left you with your Aunt and Uncle.”

“Oh no, it's okay! I understand why you did it!”

‘ _it was a poor decision. Understanding does not beget forgiveness_.’

 

* * *

 

James Potter didn't cease talking. Harry did not mind too much, because he didn't seem to expect her to do anything except listen and nod at the right parts. The only problem she was having was the overwhelming colours flashing and pulsing all around her. They were beginning to give her a headache.

James had already bought all the school supplies she needed, so all they would be getting was a pet, some robes, and a wand.

They started with the robes, heading to Madam Malkins to get Harry fitted. Just as they reached the store, James was called away by a passing wizard.

“I have some business to do real quick, do you think you can get your robes on your own? I won't be long, just ask for a full wardrobe.”

“It's ok.” James rushed off, and Harry entered the shop. 

As soon as her foot passed the threshold, she was bustled into the centre of the room by a pale yellow and pale pink witch.

“Just starting Hogwarts, dear? We have another boy here who's starting this year too! You just stand still and I'll start measuring!”

The lady planted her next to a short figure, shining gold, while she measured

“First year at Hogwarts? Do you know what house you'll be in? I know I'm going to be in Slytherin, it's only the best house. Everyone from my family has been in that house. Oh, I'm Draco, by the way. Draco Malfoy. You are?”

_‘Gold. Not confidence, arrogance_.’

The lady finished her measuring and went to amble off.

“Could you please make the sleeves slightly longer and bigger than they normally would be, miss?” the lady walked off voicing her affirmative.

“Thank you, miss.” Harry readdressed Mr Malfoy.”Harriet Dursley.”

“Dursley? That's not a wizarding surname. Are you muggleborn?” He turned slightly green orange and purple.

_‘Mild disgust? Malfoys. Pure blood family.’_

“No. Half blood. Adopted.”

“Oh. Well, anyway, do you know what house you'll be in? You know about the houses, right? Hufflepuff is for all the duffers that don't fit the other houses, Gryffindor is for all the brave idiots, Slytherin is for anyone cunning and ambitious, and Ravenclaw is for anyone that likes learning.”

_‘Fast talker. Likes his voice?_ ’

“I know. I believe Ravenclaw. Knowledge is extremely valuable.” The boy hmph’d.

“Ravenclaws an okay house.”

“Harriet! Sorry, it took longer than I thought it would, all done?” James came striding through the door, red gold and yellow.

“Yes. If we go buy my wand and pet now, by the time we come back the robes will be done.”

“Wonderful!” then he noticed Mr Malfoy. “Ah, Harriet, let's get going.” He placed his hand on her shoulder and started steering her out of the store. Harry raised her hand in farewell to Mr Malfoy.

Once outside, James leaned in close and whispered to Harry.

“I don't know what that boy said to you, but ignore whatever it was. His family are all dark wizards.” James was thick with green orange and purple.

“I will.”

_‘I will not.’_


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N So the colours are hard to understand, because I am an idiot and made what is probably an over complicated system. Basically, if there's a comma, the colours are separate and mean different things, if there isn't then they're all the same colour and translate to one thing. A/N currently not making sense, but that's totally ok.

Next was her pet. They entered a loud room filled to the brim with pale grey mottled with every colour on the rainbow.

“I decided that it would be best to get you an owl. That means you won't need to use school owls to keep in touch!” James sounded very gold.

_‘Proud. Why?’_

“I've always wanted a bird! What kind of owls should I get?” Harry smiled again. James likes smiles.

“Go ahead and pick!” Harry looked around at the overwhelming colours, looking for a combination she liked. She finally spotted a pale-blue-pale-orange-pale-green, and pale-purple owl off in the corner of the room.

 _‘So many colours.’_ Harry headed over to it slowly, not wanting to spook it.

 _‘Depressed. Angry. Why?_ ’ she pointed to it and turned to James.

“Can I please have that one?”

“If that's the one you want. Keep an eye on it, I'll go find whoevers selling.” Harry did keep a close eye on it, watching it's extremely pale colours shift but not change.

Finally, James returned with a pale man in tow.

“What one do you want, Harriet? We'll have it put in a cage for you.”

“That one.” Harry pointed.

“Ar- are you sure? She's pretty bad tempered. We could get you another.”

“I would like her.”

“Of course.”

With her new owl, now named Nebula, in her cage, they went to finally get Harry a wand.

* * *

 The pair was greeted at the door by a small red man named Mr Ollivander. He immediately started bringing Harry wand after wand, having her flick each one.

 After going through many wands, Harry could see James turning green. They couldn't find a wand to suit her, until finally he brought back one that felt good. Harry picked it up, immediately feeling a cool breeze from it.

Mr Ollivander was a pale orange green red.

‘ _Curious_.’

“11 inches, dragon heartstring core, and elder wood. How strange. Not a perfect match, but the best so far.”

“Elder wood? Isn't that considered extremely unlucky?” James turned orange green.

‘ _Worried_.’

“No, no, there's no need to worry. She'll be fine!”

Despite Mr Ollivanders assurances, James didn't change from orange green, even once they returned to Potter Manor.

* * *

 They picked up Harry's robes from Madam Malkins and James apparated them to Potter Manor.

“Liam should be back from Quidditch practise by now. I'll introduce you.”

“Quidditch practice?’

“Yeah, Liam's seeker on the Gryffindor team, and he's been practising all holidays. He threw himself into it after the… accident.”

“Accident?” James turned blue orange green.

“A… a troll got into the school. Liam's best friend got trapped in the bathroom with it. They didn't find her in time.” James’ was nearly a whisper.

Harry was unsure how to respond. Luckily, she was saved from doing so when James’ voice turned yellow red

“No need to dwell on that now! Come on!”

The first thing Harry noticed when meeting Liam was just how dark blue his centre was.

 _‘Sad. Very sad.’_ despite his blue centre, however, Liam's voice and outside was yellow and red.

“Hi Harriet! I'm Liam, your older brother. Do you remember me?”

“Yes. You stole my chimera toy.” Liam went white for a second, before he laughed.

“You stole my wolf toy! I was only getting revenge.” Harry laughed with Liam, and saw his green fade. Yes, people really like smiles.

James left Harry to talk with Liam alone while they put away Harry's things.

“So, Harriet-

“Harry.”

“What?”

“Please call me Harry. Like you used to.” Liam went yellow.

“Sure. So, Harry, do you want a tour? The manor is pretty big, and it's easy to get lost.”

“OK.”

* * *

 After the tour, they had a family dinner then went to bed. Harry fell asleep categorising everything she had learned that day.

 The next few months were uneventful. Harry discovered that thought the Potters were nice and tried to talk with her, they were much too loud and found her quietness unnerving. Because of this, Harry spent most of her time studying for school. She had a very kind portrait read books to her and explain things she didn't understand.

She eventually had all of her assigned books memorised front to back, and was without anything to do.

So, she practised her speaking and played wizarding games with Liam. She learned that was awful at exploding snap, but a master at wizards chess. She practised speaking in full sentences and raising her voice, as well as identifying emotions quicker. She disliked speaking loudly and in full sentences, but the Potter boys loved it, so she tried.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N So this chapter is where I'm starting to get excited. This excitement is going to end once I start needing to weave years one and two, as well as my own plot, into this darn fic, but until then I SHALL. BE. EXCITED.

It was finally time to head to Hogwarts. Everyone was standing on platform 9 ¾, ready to board. James was shining pride. There were hugs goodbye, and Harry and Liam waved as they boarded. The doors closed, and the train set off, leaving behind waving families.

“So Harry, time to claim a compartment. Once they're full it's really hard to sit with someone you like.”

“Where are your friends?” James flashed white for a second, shocked.

“Oh, last year I only had one close friend, and we had a falling out. So this year I'm going to making more. I suggest claiming a separate compartment from me, so you can meet some students of your own year level.”

“Okay, I'll do that. Thank you Liam!” Liam swelled gold with pride. 

Harry claimed her own compartment, and say in silence for a while. She let her mind drift, until there was a knock on the sliding door.

“Yes?” the door opened and Mr Malfoy from Madam Malkins popped his head in.

“Hey there are no oth- oh! Miss Dursley! Could we sit in here with you? All of the other compartments have been claimed.”

“Of course. Please, call me Harry.” Mr Malfoy walked in with two very large figures, both a pale grey.

“Then call me Draco. This is Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle. They're kind of like my bodyguards.” Draco gestured to the mountainous figures behind him.

“Hello Mr Goyle, Mr Crabbe.”

“Vincent.”

“Gregory.” The two beasts grunted out, there colours unchanging.

“So, you were adopted by muggles? What was it like?” Draco's colours didn't show any disgust, just curiosity.

“Bad.” Draco's colours went white with shock at her blunt answer.

“Oh. Can I ask why?”

“They're rude. Call me Girl. Hate magic. Freakish.” this time Draco's colours shifted to disgust.

“Really? Are all muggles like that? That's terrible!”

“Only some.” After an awkward pause, Draco started telling Harry all about himself, which she listened intently to, filing it all away.

* * *

They made it to Hogwarts, and the first years were ushered over to boats by a massive jolly yellow figure. Harry shared hers with Vincent, Gregory, and Draco, which was difficult with Vincent and Gregory's size.

Once the ride was finished, they all made their way to a massive set of doors. There, they were greeted by strangely grey-gold and dark orange silhouette.

_‘Grey gold. Stern? Maybe. Dark orange; cat animagus.’_

She was introduced as Professor McGonagall, and ushered them inside to line up for their sorting.

One by one, students were called up, a hat was placed on their heads, and they were sorted into one of the four houses. Some were sorted before the hat even touched their heads, while others took some time. Harry filed away each student in the halls unique colour and their house. She added names to the ones being sorted.

Draco ended up in Slytherin, as he predicted, and finally it was Harry's turn.

“Potter, Harriet!” The entire hall flashed a bright white, before morphing nauseatingly into a horrible marble of colour. Harry walked up to the hat among whispers of

“Did she say Potter? I thought Harriet Potter was dead!”

She took a seat, and the hat was placed on her head, thankfully blocking her view of the other students and surrounding her in grey when it slipped over her eyes. Her urge to throw up lessened, and she thanked the hat.

_‘No need to thank me! Now, shall we sort you?’_

_‘Please do.’_

_‘Ah, such good manners! Well, Gryffindor and Hufflepuff are immediately out- not because of the manners thing, no no, you just aren't the type of person for either of those houses. Your urge for knowledge would suit Ravenclaw the most, but your personality would probably clash. What about Slytherin? Would you be willing?’_

_‘Yes.’_

_‘Well then, it's decided._ SLYTHERIN!”

There were a few moments of quiet after the hat was removed from her head. Harry squinted her eyes against the white. Then Draco started clapping and cheering, and less than a moment later, so did the rest of the Slytherins. Harry walked down to the table, and sat herself next to Draco, closing her eyes and swallowing.

“Harriet Potter! Potter! You said your last name was Dursley!” Draco hissed

“It is. The Dursleys adopted me. James must have changed it. Used to be a Potter. Voldemort attacked. Ruled a squib. Sent away. Safety reasons.”

“Oh. I'm sorry. I just thought you lied to me. Why were you ruled a squib? You were four at the time, right? Didn't you show accidental magic before then?”

“Yes. Only when Liam was around. They said it was all Liam.” Draco was saved from replying when the Headmaster told them all to dig in.

Massive piles of food appeared in front of them, everything you could possibly ever want.

“Draco?”

“Yes?”

“I'm colour blind, and I can't tell what half of the stuff in front of me is. Could you point it out for me?”

“Colour blind? Um, sure, I can to that.”

* * *

 After the feast, the students were dismissed and the Slytherin first years were collected by a Prefect named Gemma Farley.

“This way, this way! Follow me first year Slytherins!”

She guided them down towards the dungeons, and to the Slytherin common room, concealed behind a wall.

“The password is currently ‘cobra’ and will be changed every two weeks. Expect lots of stupid passwords, Jason picks them.”

The hidden door opened, and they all walked in.

Harry heard the other students gasping and leaned over to Draco.

“Why’s everyone gasping?”

“Look at the windows! You can see the great lake! We're in the lake!” Draco sounded awed, and his colours reflected that.

Everyone got set up in their new rooms, and went to bed, ready for the first day of school.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N yeah I just invented some random Prefects. Also, originally Harry was meant to be a complete loner with absolutely no friends, but then she went ahead and befriended Draco with permission soooo...


	4. Chapter 4

The next day, Harry attracted a lot of stares as she made her way to class. People were confused by her, after all it had been believed that she died the night Voldemort attacked the Potters. Then she got sorted into Slytherin, something that Potter's just don't do.

Navigating her way to class taught Harry how absolutely insane the castles design was. Stairways with vanishing steps, and doors that only open under specific circumstances, or don't open at all.

She did notice, however the sheer number of portraits dotted around the castle. There was nary a bare corridor. One day while Draco was off with Gregory and Vincent, Harry had a little chat with some of the portraits. It didn't take much at all for them to collectively agree to spy for her. Her student profiles were slowly building as the paintings related more and more information to her.

The theoretical parts of each class were extremely easy, as they were just repetitions of what was written in their textbooks, but the practical part of their work gave Harry issue. Every time someone did a spell of any kind, the resulting flash of colour disoriented Harry and gave her a headache. Added to the already thick miasma of colour coming from the students, Harry was frequently left holding her temples after class.

She also had some trouble using her wand. There were times it would warp her spell, changing its intent. She would end up with a perfectly cast spell; but not the spell she wanted.

Everyone had been wary about Defense against the Dark Arts after last year's unfortunate teacher, and yet were still disappointed. Or at least, the male population of the school was. This year's teacher was Gilderoy Lockhart, a joke of a man that stole all his stories from other people. Everytime he spoke a lie, his colours turned completely black. Which was often. Anytime his colours weren't stained black by lies, he was a shining gold that Harry would swear was somehow glittering.

Despite being an obvious fraud, most of the girls at Hogwarts were obsessed with him, and defended him from anyone speaking the truth. The first class Harry ever had with him, he released a cage full of Cornish Pixies into the class and left the students to clean it up when he failed. Luckily, even the first years he was with weren't as inept as him and the Pixies were quickly rounded up.

 

* * *

 

On Friday, the Slytherins had double potions with the Gryffindors. The teacher was a strange man to Harry, because he was constantly grey and purple, an uncommon mixture. He also had a black smudge across his arm.

 _‘Dark mark. No emotions. A little anger. How_?’

While doing the role, he paused on Harry's name.

“Ah, Harriet Potter. Mr Potter's sister. Let's hope you aren't as poor at potions as Mr Potter.” Once the role was done, he started in his speech. He mentioned the subtle science and exact art of potion making, and spoke of stoppering death and bottling fame. His voice was quiet and soft, hardly more than a whisper.

Then, in a sudden change of tone, he addressed Harry.

“Potter! What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?” across the room, Gryffindor Hermione Granger's colours shot to red excitement. Harry tilted her head and replied softly.

“Draught of Living Death, sir.”

“Where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?”

“Goat.”

“Expand.”

“Bezoar. Found in a goat's stomach. Neutralizes most poisons.”

“What's the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?”

“Nothing. Aconite.” Harry could feel Professor Snape appraising her, but his colours still didn't shift.

“Correct, Miss Potter. It seems you aren't as useless as your brother.” The rest of the class went well, as Harry ended up paired with Draco. The potion they brewed went perfectly, unlike the Gryffindors. One Gryffindor, Neville Longbottom, managed to melt his cauldron.

 

* * *

 

After that, classes were uneventful. The next big drama came when Harry decided to watch Liam play Quidditch. After being sorted into Slytherin, Liam had been having conflicted thoughts on her. Harry knew that he really hated Slytherins, but still wanted to be her older brother.

So, she went to watch his Quidditch practise, despite the distrustful colours of his teammates.

“She's probably a spy!” that was Oliver Wood, the captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

“I doubt it, Harry doesn't even know the rules of Quidditch, she wouldn't be much help to the Slytherin team- er, no offense Harry.” Liam's colours became a strange green blue in in a shade she had never seen before.

‘ _Sheepishness_?’

“None taken. It's true.”

“I still think she's a spy for Slytherin.”

“No, Liam's right. She's not a spy, they don't need one.” Fred Weasley, one of the Gryffindor Beaters.

“What?”

“They're here in person.” George Weasley, the other Gryffindor Beater.

Harry turned to see the Slytherin Quidditch team approaching.

“I don’t believe it!” Mr Wood hissed in supernova-bright purple.

“I booked the pitch for today! We’ll see about this! Flint!” Mr Wood bellowed at the Slytherin captain, Marcus flint.

“This is our practice time! We got up specially! You can clear off now!”

“Plenty of room for all of us, Wood.”

“But I booked the pitch!” said Mr Wood, sparking purple, something Harry had only ever seen from Uncle Vernon.

“I booked it!”

“Ah,” said Mr Flint, “but I’ve got a specially signed note here from Professor Snape.”

 _I, Professor S. Snape, give the Slytherin team permission to practise today on the Quidditch pitch, owing to the need to train their new Seeker_.

“What rubbish! You can't just do that! Teachers don't have the authority to overrule each other!”

“Actually,” Harry didn't need to raise her voice, everyone went quiet to listen “they can.”

Mr Wood rounded on Harry.

“I knew you were a Slytherin spy!” Harry couldn't even make out a figure anymore, just a wall of purple fire.

“I'm not. I just read the rules.” Harry watched Mr Woods flames completely fall away and turn white. Trying to regain some ground, he turned to the Slytherin team.

“Who's your new seeker anyway?”

From behind his wall of team mates, Draco stepped out. Then, the team revealed their new brooms, which made Harry sigh. That was a poor move. They made it sound as though Draco bribed his way in, which Harry knew he hadn't. The portraits had been gossiping about it for a while.

Then something Harry hadn't been expecting happened. Ronald Weasley, a first year Gryffindor and one of Liam's new friends, had just arrived and took a swing at Draco, but Harry was faster. In a fraction of a second, her wand was in her hand and pointed at Mr Weasley, a fifth year stunning spell forming on her lips.

“Stupefy.” like usual, it was hardly a whisper, but volume didn't matter. Her wand, feeling her intent, didn't change the spell, and Mr Weasley was flying backwards, landing hard. He had travelled a fair distance, and everyone had gone white with shock. Then, the entire Slytherin team broke down laughing.

The Gryffindor team glared at Harry, and Liam rushed over to Ron to take him to the hospital wing.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just so ya know, this fic is short because it is really meant to be a part one, less of a stand alone fic.

Harry, Draco, Vincent, and Gregory had hardly taken a step into the Great Hall for lunch time when they were approached by Professor Snape.

“Miss Potter, this evening you will be spending detention with Professor Lockhart, helping him with his fan mail.” despite still only showing grey, Harry could hear amusement in Professor Snape's voice, as well as disgust when he said Professor Lockhart's name.

“I offered to take you for detention, but I was… overruled. Good day, Potter.” Professor Snape swept away. Draco nudged Harry.

“Did you see that? He was smiling! Not much, but that was basically a full on grin for him! He's not fond of the Weasleys.”

“...oh dear.” Harry felt… worried.

“Harry? What's wrong?”

“I'm going to have to admit to Professor Lockhart that I can't read.”

“Wait, what? You're illiterate?”

“No, I told you, I'm colour blind. Completely. Everything is grey. Paper is grey, ink is grey, it's all grey.”

* * *

 The afternoon went too fast, and it felt like only minutes later, Harry was knocking on Professor Lockhart's office door.

“Ah, there you are my dear! Come in Harriet, come in! You can address these envelopes for me!” Harry felt a rush of white. Relief. She wouldn't need to read anything. She took out her modified Quick-quotes Quill and started to write.

Hours later, Harry heard a hissing voice.

_‘Come… come to me… let me rip you… let me tear you… let me kill you’_

She tilted her head.

“Professor?”

“Yes m’dear?”

“Did you just hear something?”

“Hear something? No. Are you- oh dear! Look at the time! You've been here for four hours! No wonder you're hearing things! Off you go!”

 _‘Hissing voice. Couldn't hear. Parseltongue._ ’

Harry went to bed, but along the way questioned the portraits. They hadn't seen anything strange, such as a snake just slithering around.

* * *

 Again, the year was uneventful, until halloween. Harry had been on her way to enjoy the halloween feast, when she heard the voice again.

 _‘rip… tear… kill…_ ’

Harry tilted her head, and set off, following the voice.

_‘...so hungry… for so long…’_

_‘Snake. Old. Hungry. Violent.’_

_‘...kill… time to kill._..’

The voice started moving upwards. Harry tilted her head up. It was in the walls and floor. It was getting further away, so Harry sped up.

“Any portraits that can hear me, please move up a floor. Thank you.”

 _‘...I smell blood… I smell blood_!’ 

Harry finally made it to a deserted passage, and the voice faded away. She kept walking. At the end of the passage, Mrs Norris, the caretaker's cat, was hanging by her tail from a torch bracket.

Harry put her head near.

 _‘Stiff. Petrified? Snake. Old. Violent. Basilisk?_ ’

Then, the loud thundering sound of hundreds of pairs of feet came up the stairs, chatting loudly. It all became silent however, when they came across Harry and Mrs Norris.

“What's going on here, what's going on!?” Caretaker Filch pushed his way to the front of the crowd.

“My cat! My cat! What's happened to Mrs Norris?!” His colour turned dark blue with grief, then purple with anger as he rounded on Harry.

“You! You killed my cat! I'll-”

“Argus!”

The crowd parted, as Headmaster Dumbledore swept through, followed by many teachers. He deftly unhooked Mrs Norris from the torch bracket.

“Come with me, Argus. You too, Miss Potter.”

“My office is nearest, headmaster, feel free-”

“Thank you, Gilderoy.”

They entered Professor Lockhart's office, and Headmaster Dumbledore started examine Mrs Norris, his nose barely an inch away. Professor McGonagall was nearly as close, and Professor Snape was in the shadows, watching.

Harry got her first good look at the Headmaster. He, like Snape, was nearly a solid colour, though he was a cheery, jolly yellow. A shade that Harry knew for a fact was nearly impossible to maintain for long, especially when presented with a petrified animal.

 _‘Hiding too. How?_ ’

Lockhart was hovering around all of them, making suggestions.

“It was definitely a curse that killed her – probably the Transmogrifian Torture. I’ve seen it used many times, so unlucky I wasn’t there, I know the very counter-curse that would have saved her …” Lockhart’s comments were punctuated by Filch’s dry, racking sobs. He was slumped in a chair by the desk, unable to look at Mrs Norris, his face in his hands.

Dumbledore muttered some strange words under his breath and tapped Mrs Norris with his wand, but nothing happened: she continued to look as though she had been recently stuffed. “… I remember something very similar happening in Ouagadougou,” said Lockhart, “a series of attacks, the full story’s in my autobiography. I was able to provide the townsfolk with various amulets which cleared the matter up at once …”

At last Dumbledore straightened up.

“She’s not dead, Argus,” he said softly. Professor Lockhart abruptly stopped recounting the murders he had prevented.

“Not- not dead? But, whys she all stiff and frozen?”

“She's been petrified. But how, I cannot say…”

“Ask her!”

“No first year could have done this.” Headmaster Dumbledore said firmly. “It would take dark magic of the most advanced-”

“She did it! She did it! You saw what she wrote on the wall!”

“Headmaster, if I may speak?” At headmaster Dumbledore’s nod he continued. “Miss Potter may have simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time, but we do have a suspicious set of circumstances here. Why was she in the upstairs corridor at all? Why wasn't she at the Hallowe’en feast?”

“I was going there. But the portraits asked me to go up.” Harry could see Professor McGonagall's colours turned to disbelief.

“The portraits? Why on earth would the portraits ask you to go up there?”

“Said something was off. Couldn't see. No frames. Asked me to check. We trade information.” Harry tilted her head.

Professor McGonagall left to ask the nearby portraits, unaware that Professor Lockhart's own paintings were off to inform them of Harry's story. Once Professor McGonagall returned with confirmation of her story, Harry was released.


	6. Chapter 6

For the next few days, all people could talk about was Mrs Norris and the Chamber of Secrets.

_‘THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED._

_ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE_ ’

Harry spent all her time trying to discover the possible location of the chamber. She knew that the monster was a Basilisk, she knew it was getting around by the pipes, but she knew nothing else. Eventually, she had to put aside her research for a day to watch the Slytherin/Gryffindor Quidditch match.

She watched the play, cheering on neither team, just observing, when she noticed one of the bludger acting strangely. It was specifically targeting Liam, instead of changing targets. Mr and Mr Weasley were flying next to him, thwaking away at the bludgeon each time it came too close.

Eventually, they called time out. Harry watched then talk, then tilted her head as instead of asking for an inquiry, they resumed play. From the bleachers, Harry did her best trying to slow the bludger. You can't tamper with the balls without extreme effort, but you can manipulate the air around them, slowing them down. Harry's wand was resisting, and the bludger was moving too fast for her to help much. 

Liam froze for a moment too long when he spotted the Snitch, and the bludger came hurtling at him. With her wand discreetly pointed at the bludger, Harry made a last ditch effort to slow the bludger, watching as the grey blur smashed into Liam's side. He kept going though, and Harry watched as he caught the Snitch,  before falling towards the ground.

Someone must have slowed him, because he hit the ground with very little speed. He sat up, and revealed the Snitch to everyone. Then the worst possible thing happened. Professor Lockhart took it upon himself to fix what was probably only a bruised arm.

* * *

 Later that night, Harry heard some lovely gossip from the portraits. According to them, the bludger that had been tampered with was the work of a house elf named Dobby, who revealed that the chamber had been opened once before. His slip up was then confirmed when another student, whom the portraits didn't identify, was brought in, petrified. Headmaster Dumbledore mentioned that the Chamber was open again.

Harry found it strange that no one, not even the portraits, remembered the Chamber ever being opened. Despite all her research, Harry just couldn't discover any mention of the Chamber or the Basilisk in anything other than school legend.

With no more leads, Harry set the Chamber and the Basilisk aside, not wishing to reveal her knowledge and parselmouth status to anyone. Instead, she spent her time with Draco, studying.

For a long while, things were again uneventful. The biggest thing to happen was a massive explosion in Professor Snape's second year potions class.

* * *

 Everyone crowded around the noticeboard, red with excitement over the new duelling club that was starting up. 8 o’clock that night, a large group of students all showed up at great hall, which has been changed a little. Instead of the normal teachers table and four houses tables, there was a massive stage along one wall.

There was a massive groan throughout the hall as Professor Lockhart and Professor Snape walked onto stage.

“Gather round, gather round! Can everyone see me? Can you all hear me? Excellent! Now, Professor Dumbledore has granted me permission to start this little Duelling Club, to train you all up in case you ever need to defend yourselves as I myself have done on countless occasions – for full details, see my published works. Let me introduce my assistant Professor Snape,”said Lockhart, flashing a wide smile.

“He tells me he knows a tiny little bit about duelling himself and has sportingly agreed to help me with a short demonstration before we begin. Now, I don’t want any of you youngsters to worry – you’ll still have your Potions master when I’m through with him, never fear!”

Harry tilted her head, knowing that Snape could be considered a skilled duelist. They then demonstrated how to hold your wand during a duel, and started. In less than a second, Professor Snape had finished Professor Lockhart with a quick “Expelliarmus”.

With a flash of red light that burned Harry's eyes, Professor Lockhart went flying off the stage and onto the floor. After explaining the spell, he started pairing everyone off. Harry went with Draco. He then called start, and in a short moment Draco's wand was in Harry's raised hand, and Draco was flying backwards. It seemed that Harry's wand enjoyed more violent spells, and would supercharge any spell that fit that category.

Draco was white with shock, obviously confused how Harry, who was poor at most spells, had disarmed him so quickly.

“I didn't even see you move! How did you do that?”

“Went fast.” The pair turned to watch the chaos erupting around them. Every other pair had failed to follow instruction.

Professor Lockhart was screaming for everyone to stop, but Professor Snape actually acted.

“Finite incantatem!”

The horror show ended, and everyone took a minute to recover.

Professor Lockhart changed his mind, and had one pair demonstrating how to block a spell. Professor Snape placed Liam and Draco in a pair, and the two got up on stage.

“One - Two - Three - Start!”

Draco raised his wand quickly and bellowed, “Serpensortia!” the end of his wand exploded. There were screams as the crowd backed swiftly away from the massive snake Draco had conjured. 

“Don’t move, Potter,” said Professor Snape lazily, clearly enjoying the sight of Liam standing motionless, eye to eye with the angry snake.

“I’ll get rid of it …”

“Allow me!” shouted Lockhart. He brandished his wand at the snake and there was a loud bang; the snake, instead of vanishing, flew ten feet into the air and fell back to the floor with a loud smack. Enraged, hissing furiously, it slithered straight towards Justin Finch-Fletchley, a muggle-born, first year Hufflepuff, and raised itself again, fangs exposed, poised to strike.

When the grey conjuration lunged, Harry reached out her arm, her hand clamping just behind the snakes head. It flicked it's tail violently, but couldn't open its mouth.

Harry had to shut away the white light around her.

“Professor?” she felt the snake dissolve in her hand, and opened her senses slightly. The sea of colour was still headache inducing, but it wasn't the painful white it was before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Looking at the fic analysis is really interesting, the differences between fics especially. (ao3 is a lot more fun than ffn)


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you can see,only one more chapter to go. How do I cover the entirety of the rest of the year in one thousand words, you ask? Badly.

The duelling club was dismissed, and everyone rushed off, gossiping about Harry. She felt irritated with herself, but knew there was no better option. Ever she wasn't that fast with a wand, a spell might not have even worked, and revealing her parselmouth status would be a poor decision. It wouldn't have mattered if the snake bit him anyway, he wasn't a friend.

She was the gossip of the school, until of course, Liam was found next to a petrified Mr Finch-Fletchley and Sir Nicholas. Harry's irritation only increased with this latest attack. She needed to find the location of the Chamber.

Christmas was boring and mostly as expected. Harry got nothing from the Dursleys, a book on obscure types of magic from the Potters, and from Draco she received an intricately detailed curved clip to go on the base of her bun. Harry's got some chocolate for Draco, which was surprisingly difficult to obtain, and for Liam she got some Every Flavour beans.

* * *

   
Harry was walking with Draco when they came across Liam and Ronald Weasley in the hall, arguing with Percival Weasley, one the Gryffindor Prefects. Once the argument was over, Harry watched quietly as Draco simply let the two Gryffindors into the Slytherin common room.

Harry tilted her head. He then revealed everything he knew about the Chamber of Secrets, including that it was opened fifty years ago.

 _‘Oh. Should have asked_.’

After listening to Draco's long grumpy speech about not knowing anything about anything, the two fled the common room.

Harry turned to Draco.

“Why tell them?” Draco went pale

“Well, they're my friends, aren't they? I mean, I know that they're kind of my-”

“Really?”

“Yes! You know this! Vincent and Gregory may be my bodyguards but they're still my friends! You aren't my only friend, you know!” Draco was purple.

Harry tilted her head. She didn't have anywhere near enough links to decide this situation.

* * *

 For the next few weeks, there were rumors flying about all centred around Liam's first year friend Hermione Granger. She had been in the hospital wing for a long time, and no one knew why. Harry finally found out when questioning the ghosts. They told her that it was a Polyjuice Potion mishap, and she should ask Moaning Myrtle about it if she wanted to know more. She already suspected she knew why Draco let Mr Weasley and Liam into the common room.

So, Harry went into the haunted girls bathroom in search of Miss Myrtle. She found the room completely flooded, and the ghost sobbing loudly from one of the stalls.

“Excuse me.”

“W-what do you want?”

“Are you Miss Myrtle?”

“Y-yes. H-have you c-come to throw things at me t-too?”

“No.” The ghost flew out of her stall and got all in Harry's face. To Harry, ghosts are bright silvery images, that flicker between expressions. They're honestly terrifying.

“R-really?”

“Yes. Someone threw something?” the ghost pointed. On the ground there was a black book. A very strange black book. Because books aren't black. Books are grey. Harry pocketed the book as something warm dripped down her face.

* * *

 The next day was valentine's day, and as soon as Harry entered the Great Hall, she knew it it would be a poor day. There were hearts hanging from everything, and the teachers were spitting purple.

Her fear was confirmed, as strange little brown creatures came in through the doors at Professor Lockhart's clap.

“My friendly, card-carrying cupids!” beamed Professor Lockhart. “They will be roving around the school today delivering your Valentines! And the fun doesn’t stop here! I’m sure my colleagues will want to enter into the spirit of the occasion! Why not ask Professor Snape to show you how to whip up a Love Potion! And while you’re at it, Professor Flitwick knows more about Entrancing Enchantments than any wizard I’ve ever met, the sly old dog!”

Professor Flitwick's colours became the brightest shade of embarrassment Harry thought she had ever seen. Snape's normally grey colours had given way to a tumultuous purple.

Later that day, Harry found herself running.

“Oi! ‘Arry Potter! I've go’ a musical message to deliver!” a small brown ‘card carrying cupid’ ran after her, kicking the shins of anyone that got in the way.

Scarily quick, the ‘cupid’ grabbed Harry by her bag, and started tugging. Before she could stop it, there was a massive tearing sound as her bag split completely. Using a Wingardium Leviosa, she picked up the fallen contents of her bag, and kept running.

“Excuse me sir armour, if you would?”

One of the suits of armour lining the next corridor walls stepped forward, knelt, and picked up the struggling ‘cupid’.

“Thank you.”

Once back at her room, Harry checked her books. They each felt wet with ink when she tapped them, except for the diary. Curious, she took out her Quick-quotes Quill and wrote two words.

“Show me.”

* * *

 Harry felt herself dragged into a memory, set in the headmasters office. There was a man, sitting at the desk. She was crying, again.

' _Strange_.'

Harry heard a knock.

“Enter.” The wizards voice was feeble. Harry heard the door open and close.

“Ah, Riddle.” _‘Riddle?’_

“You wished to see me, Professor Dippet?” _‘Headmaster Dippet, the headmaster before Professor Dumbledore’_

The boy sounded nervous, but wasn't green. His voice lied.

“I've been reading over the letter you sent me.”

“Oh.”

“My dear boy,” said Professor Dippet kindly, “I cannot possibly let you stay at school over the summer. Surely you want to go home for the holidays?”

“No,” said Mr Riddle at once, “I’d much rather stay at Hogwarts than go back to that – to that –”

_'No lie.’_

“You live in a Muggle orphanage during the holidays, I believe?” said Professor Dippet curiously.

“Yes, sir,” said Mr Riddle, sounding embarrassed, but not showing it in colour.

_‘What's happening?’_

“You are Muggle-born?”

“Half-blood, sir,” said Mr Riddle. “Muggle father, witch mother.”

“And are both your parents –?”

“My mother died just after I was born, sir. They told me at the orphanage she lived just long enough to name me: Tom after my father, Marvolo after my grandfather.” Professor Dippet clucked his tongue sympathetically.

_‘Tom Marvolo Riddle. Anagram. Coincidence?’_

“The thing is, Tom,’ he sighed, “special arrangements might have been made for you, but in the current circumstances …”

“You mean all these attacks, sir?” said Mr Riddle.

_‘Attacks. Chamber is open.’_

“Precisely,” said the Headmaster. “My dear boy, you must see how foolish it would be of me to allow you to remain at the castle when term ends. Particularly in the light of the recent tragedy … the death of that poor little girl … You will be safer by far at your orphanage. As a matter of fact, the Ministry of Magic is even now talking about closing the school. We are no nearer locating the – er – source of all this unpleasantness …”

_‘Girl died.’_

“Sir – if the person was caught … If it all stopped …” His voice sounded hesitant, but he only showed gold red. Cunning.

“What do you mean?” said Professor Dippet, with a squeak in his voice, sitting up in his chair. “Riddle, do you mean you know something about these attacks?”

“No, sir,” said Mr Riddle quickly. He flashed black.

Dippet sank back, his colours faintly disappointed. “You may go, Tom…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Expect a long wait once this fic is done, I'm currently working on the next fic in my OTHER HP fanfic series. Go check it out ;) (I am shameless)


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I TOTALLY FORGOT TO POST! I'M SORRY! I did remember though!
> 
>  
> 
> Edit: that moment you realise you forgot to include a semi-important detail in your rush to post. Not too major if you missed it, it's just to keep things constant

Harry followed Mr Riddle as he left the headmasters office.

“What are you doing wandering around this late, Tom?” Harry tilted her head at the figure. Dumbledore.

Mr Riddle explained himself, the headed to the Potions room.

They hid there for nearly half an hour, before finally he came out to stand behind Rubeus Hagrid.

“Evening, Rubeus,” said Mr Riddle sharply. The boy slammed the door shut and stood up.

“What yer doin’ down here, Tom?” Riddle stepped closer.

“It’s all over,” he said. “I’m going to have to turn you in, Rubeus. They’re talking about closing Hogwarts if the attacks don’t stop.”

“What d’yeh –”

“I don’t think you meant to kill anyone. But monsters don’t make good pets. I suppose you just let it out for exercise and –”

“It never killed no one!” said the Mr Hagrid, backing against the closed door. From behind him, Harry could hear a funny rustling and clicking.

_‘no lie.’_

“Come on, Rubeus,” said Riddle, moving yet closer. “The dead girl’s parents will be here tomorrow. The least Hogwarts can do is make sure that the thing that killed their daughter is slaughtered …”

“It wasn’ him!” roared Mr Hagrid, his voice echoing in the dark passage. “He wouldn’! He never!”

_‘no lie’_

“Stand aside,” said Riddle, drawing out his wand. His spell blinded Harry. The door behind Mr Hagrid flew open with such force it knocked him into the wall opposite. And out of it came a large pale yellow smudge.

_‘Bug. Insect. Spider. Something.’_

The thing bowled Mr Riddle over as it scuttled away, tearing up the corridor and out of sight. Mr Riddle scrambled to his feet, looking after it; he raised his wand, but Mr Hagrid leapt on him, seized his wand and threw him back down, yelling,

“NOOOOOOO!”

* * *

 Harry woke up on her bed, the diary under her, warmth dripping down her cheeks. She sat up, wiping away the... thick tears?

 _‘Not a_ _coincidence. Tom Marvolo Riddle._ _I_   _am_ lord _Voldemort. Stupid. Tacky.’_

Harry closed the book, and then her eyes. Despite the memory, she still didn't know the location of the Chamber of Secrets or who opened it. But she had a lead. A girl died 50 years ago. One of the ghosts will know something about that.

* * *

 The next day, Harry went on a ghost hunt. She found out that Miss Myrtle had died 50 years ago, and so, went to speak with her.

“Miss Myrtle?”

“Oh, hello again! Come to tease me, have you?”

“No. How did you die?”

“Oh it was terrible! All I remember were great big yellow eyes, staring at me from over there!” She pointed to one of the sinks with a snake faucet.

Harry forced herself to speak parseltongue, to test a theory.

_‘Open.’_

There was a loud grinding sound, and the sink dropped into the ground. Closing her eyes, Harry could feel a massive drop, down a pipe and into a chamber.

_‘Location found. Who?’_

Harry asked the Chamber to close, and went in search of a new lead.

* * *

 Her answer finally came in the form of Hermione Granger, the first year Gryffindor that had been in the hospital wing for a few weeks. Across her heart, there was a dark smudge, not unlike the one on Professor Snape.

_‘Finally.’_

The next chance she got, Harry locked herself in her room with the diary. She placed her hadn't on its cover, closed her eyes, and reached. She was hit with a sudden, violent hunger. She felt ethereal teeth tear away at the black book, felt her hunger fade as she devoured the soul bound to the pages. When she finally finished, in front of her there was a little grey book. She hardly even noticed she was crying again.

* * *

 Harry stepped off the edge of the floor and down the pipe. She slid down, into the Chamber. She casually made her way through the old lair and into a large room. At the end of the room, there was a massive stone head carved into the wall, it's mouth a door.

_‘Are you here, Basilisk?’_

‘... _I_ _am…’_

 _‘Your master is dead. What will you_ do?’

‘... _I will purge this school… of those unworthy… of those that don 't deserve…_  _I will kill them!_   _I_   _will eat them!’_

Harry left the hissing Basilisk, giving it one final command. Don't harm.

* * *

Harry started planning. She had the location of the Chamber, she knew who was being possessed, and she had a hero, all lined up. Liam.

Harry took the little grey book, and started to weave.

* * *

 Harry watched Liam fight the Basilisk, easily slaying it. She watched him destroy the diary. She watched him save Hermione Granger. And she smiled.

* * *

 It was funny, really, how the school treated the incident. They said that it was a group of students, stirring up trouble, and messing with potions far above their level. Miss Myrtle's bathroom got completely sealed off. After escaping the Chamber, the entrance had closed and they couldn't find out how to open it.

Liam and Mr Weasley won enough points to secure the house cup. Professor Lockhart got obliviated.

* * *

 ”Professor?” Harry knocked on Professor Snape's Office door.

“Come in.” Harry entered, feeling nervous.

“What is it, Potter?”

“Exams.”

“What about them?”

“Can't do them.” she could feel his eyes on her.

“Why not?”

“Can't read.” for moment, his colours went white, then flurries into confusion, before settling back into grey.

* * *

 “Can't read? What do you mean, ‘can't read’? You've read and written fine until now.” Severus’ mind was spinning. Despite his refusal to admit it, Harriet Potter was extremely skilled at potion making, and her essays were wonderful.

“Draco read for me. Quick Quotes Quill.” Of course he did. Instead of telling his head of house, and godfather, that one of the Slytherins couldn't read, he read for her. And she used an enchanted object to write for her.

“Miss Potter, the school won't accept that. You're expected to be able to read when you come to Hogwarts. They won't accept illiteracy as an excuse.” but then he felt the blood run out of his face when she lifted her fringe from her eyes.

White, pupil-less eyes stared back at him. A web of bright silver scars looking like a Lichtenberg figure snaked around her eyes and across her forehead in a jagged parody of a lace mask. A lightning bolt scar, one a bit more literal than her older brothers.

* * *

 

_**Omake** _

Inspired by James being the only tagged character.

* * *

 

James Potter startled awake.

“James, hurry up! You have a Quidditch match in like an hour!” James shielded his eyes as his curtains were thrown open. He fumbled at his bedside table, and put on his glasses.

“Wuh?” He grunted intelligently

Sirius Black has standing, hands on his hips in front of the window.

“I can't believe you slept in! Get up!” James blinked blearily, confused. Why was he in Gryffindor Tower? Why was Sirius there? Did he go back in time? He could stop Voldemort from killing Lily!

“What are you going on about? Lily Evans? She's fine, and Professor Dumbledore defeated Voldemort last year. The war’s over. Are you sick? You better not be sick.” James frowned. What was Sirius… his head cleared. He had been having another nightmare. He smacked his forehead.

‘ _Duh. I feel like an idiot. How didn't I notice it was a dream? It was so bizarre and_ _stupid.’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the final chapter! There may be a pretty long wait until the next year, I'm finishing Mirrors year 2 at the moment.


End file.
